Combined letter sheet and envelope



Aug. 30, 1938. M. VOGEL COMBINED LETTER SHEET AND ENVELOPE Filed March 18, 1956 .INVENTOR PQ AX VEIEEL.

. ATTORNEY Patented Aug. 30, 1 938 UNITED f STATES PATENT. OFFICE 2,128,275 cor'mmnn LETTER snra'r AND nnvamrn Max vogel. Franktort-on-the-Main, Germany Application March 18, 1938, Serial No. 69,453

80laims.

The present invention relates to a combined letter sheet and envelope, and has for an object to provide a device of this character which does not require moistening of its sealing means in order to effectively seal it, as is necessary with the usual type of combined letter sheet and envelope venience this substance, because of its property of adhering to itself without the necessity of moistening it, will hereinafter be referred to as dry adhesive.

A further object is to provide a combined envelope and letter sheet structure having a closing flap adapted to be folded about the edge of the illustrated embodiment of the invention comprises folded over section of the sheet and sealed by means of the dry-adhesive, so that the closed envelope will have smooth folded upper and lower edges, as distinguished from combined letter sheets and envelopes heretofore in use where the sharp edges of the folded sheet were exposed. v It is further proposed to provide means wherebyan" area of the dry-adhesive will be exposed upon the folding of the sheet for the purpose of cooperat-,-

ing with the dry-adhesive upon the closing flap.

A further object is'to provide a combined letter sheet and envelope structure which when sealed will prevent .the unauthorized opening of the letter without. showing evidence of having been opened. Another object is to provide a combined letter sheet and envelope structure which maybe readily opened by the recipient of the letter and when opened will present a letter of neat rectangular form upon which the address, postal place and time stamps, etc. will be preserved. Another object is to providea structure in which the dryadhesive will be in the form of parallel strips at the same side of the sheet so that it may be most conveniently applied as the sheet moves in one direction in themachine for applying the dryadhesive.

With the above and other objects. inview embodiments of the invention are shown" in the accompanying drawing, and these embodiments will be hereinafter more .fully described with reference thereto, and theinvention will be finally" pointed out in the claims.

In thedrawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan viewof a combined letter sheet and envelope according to my invention, the-same being shown in open position ready to be written upon.

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the sheet-folded preparatory to sealing, the closing flap being: 5 shown in raised open position. a

Fig. 3- is a sectional view taken along the line HofFig.2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view showing the combined letter sheet and envelope in sealed condition and 10 with the stamp in place thereon.

Fig. 5 is' a sectional view taken along the. line 5-4 of Fig. 4.

- Fig. 6 is a plan view, similar to Fig. 1, of a modified form of the invention in which the sheet is 15 provided with an additional writinglsection.

Similar reference characters indicate corresp'onding parts throughout the several figures of the drawing. g

Referring to the drawing, the combined letter 20 sheet and envelope according to the exemplary -able on the line i2, a closing flap portion 13 constituting an upwardly projecting extension of the section II and foldabie with' respect thereto along the line I4, and marginal strips? and I8 extending along the side edges ofthesections ill, ii and 30 i3 and defined by lines of tearing perforations i1 and I8, thestrips II and It terminating at their lower ends inupwardly spaced relation 'to the lower end of the section [ii to provide notches or cut-outs lland 20 of a depthapproximatelycor- 35 responding to the width of theclosing flap IS.

The inner surfaces of the strips" and are coated with dry-sealing adhesive substanceli and llwhich is preferably in" theform of a rubber solution, as for instance natural or compounded latex, or rubber cement, the invention also contemplating the use of other adhesives-possessing the same general characteristics, these characteristics being that the substance upon one coated surface will adhere to a similar substance upon 45' another coated surface, although it will not adhere to uncoated surfaces, even though moistened.

The inner surfaces of the sections i0 and ,il

' constitute the writing space, which when the device is closed and sealed is concealed, while the '50 outer surface constitutes the space for'the ad- I Y dress of the recipient of the letter and the writer's address, the-outer surface'of the section lfl'prefj-f erably having a block "printed thereon for re-.

ceiving the address of the recipient and'the'cios .55

ing nap II having a printed space 26 for receiving the address of the sender. Instead of the printed block 23 the sheet may have a transparent window so that the address written at the beginning of the letter upon the section II will show through.

In operation the device is closed, after the letter is-written upon the inner surface of the sections Ill and II, by folding the section l0 upon the section Ii along the line l2, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, whereupon the dry adhesive coatings of the sections of the side strips l6 and I6 extending from the sides of the sections it and II contact each other and seal the sections together beyond the lines of perforations l I and I8. It will be noted that the notches l9 and 20 expose areas of the dry-adhesive substance below the fold line H approximately corresponding to the areas of dry-adhesive substance at the ends of the closing flap l3, so that upon folding the closing flap downwardly, as shown in Figs. 4 and 5, the closing flap encloses the upper edge of the section Ill and is sealed through contact of the areas of dry-adhesive substances at the ends of the closing flap with the areas of dry-adhesive substance exposed through the notches I 9 and 20. The postage stamp 25 may be placed upon the device at any suitable position, but will preferably be placed over the edge of the closing flap inwardly of the line of perforations l8, so that when the letter is opened the postal place and time stamps will be preserved upon the body of the letter sheet. In order to open the letter it is only necessary to remove the sealed strips l5 and [6 by tearing along the tearing perforations l1 and I8, after which the letter may be opened simply by breaking the seal provided by the postage stamp.

In Fig. 6 I have illustrated a modification in which an additional writing section 26 is provided as an extension of the lower extremity of the section III, this section 26 corresponding in dimensions substantially to the sections Ill and H. Inasmuch as the section 26 will be enclosed between the sections lil and II in the closed sealed condition of the device it may receive written matter upon both surfaces. The section 26 also has the function of stiffening the closed device and rendering it more opaque, so that thinner material can be used without enabling the contents of the letter to be read by holding the same up at the light. In closing this form of the invention the section 26 is first folded upon the section l0 along the line 21, the sections l0 and 26 being then folded upon the section l2, the operation of closing and sealing being otherwise the same as in the first embodiment.

The lines of folding l2, l4 and 21 may either be score lines, folds, or suitably indicated lines of folding.

While I have described the use .of dry-adhesive sealing substance, it will be understood that ordinary gum which must be moistened for sealing may be used if desired, in which case it is only necessary to apply such gum to the strip portions at the sides of the section II, areas of which will be exposed by the cut-outs l9 and 20 to engagement of the strip portions at the sides of the closing flap.

I have illustrated and described preferred and satisfactory embodiments of the invention, but it will be obvious that certain changes may be made therein within the spirit and scope thereof as defined in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:'

1. A combined letter sheet and envelope comareas" prising a sheet of material of rectangular form having a plurality of sections foldable transversely of the sheet into superimposed relation, one of said sections constituting a back section and another constituting a front section, a closing flap forming an extension of said back section and also ioldable transversely of the sheet into superimposed relation with said back section, a pair of separable marginal strip portions extending along the parallel longitudinal sides of said sections and said closing flap, each coated at one side with an adhesive of a type adapted to adhere to itself upon the application of pressure alone, whereby upon the folding of said sections into superimposed relation the folded strip portions adhere in folded relation, the strip portions at the sides of said front section having cut-out means adapted to expose areas of the coatings of the strip portions at the sides of said back portion to engagement of the coatings of the strip portions at the sides of said flap portion when said flap portion is folded.

2. A combined letter sheet and envelope comprising a sheet of material of rectangular form having a plurality of sections foldable along predetermined lines of folding transversely of the sheet into superimposed relation, one of said sections constituting a back section and another constituting a front section, a closing flap forming an extension of said back section and also foldable along a predetermined line of folding transversely of the sheet into superimposed relation w:' h said back section, a pair of separable marginal strip portions extending along the parallel longitudinal sides of said sections and said closing flap, each coated at one side with an adhesive of a type adapted to adhere to itself upon the application of pressure alone, whereby upon the folding of said sections into superimposed relation the folded strip portions adhere in folded relation, the strip portions at the sides of said front section terminating, when folded, in spaced relation to the fold line of said closing flap whereby areas of the coatings of the strip portions at the sides of said back section are exposed to engagement of the coatings of the strip portions at the sides of said flap portion when said flap portion is folded.

3. A combined letter sheet and envelope comprising a sheet of material of rectangular form having a pair of approximately equal sized sections foldable along predetermined lines of folding transversely of the sheet into superimposed relation, one of said sections constituting a back.

section and the other constituting a front section, a closing flap forming an extension of said back section and also foldable along a, predetermined line of folding transversely of the sheet into superimposed relation .with said back section, a pair of separable marginal strip portions extending along the parallel longitudinal sides of said sections and said closing flap, each coated at one side with an adhesive of a type adapted to adhere to itself upon the application of pres-' sure alone, whereby upon the folding of said sections into superimposed relation the folded strip portions adhere in folded relation, the strip portions at the sides of said front section terminating, when folded, in spaced relation to the fold line of said closing flap whereby areas of the coatings of the strip portions at the sides of said back section are exposed to engagement of the coatings of the strip portions at the sides of said flap portion when said flap portion is folded.

4. A combined letter sheet and envelope comprising a sheet of material of rectangular form having a plurality of sections foldable transversely of the sheet one of said sections constituting a back section and another constituting a front section, a closing flap forming an extension of said back section and also foldable transversely of the sheet into superimposed relation with said back section, separable marginal strip portions extending along the parallel longitudinal sides of said sections and said closing flap, each coated at one side with an adhesive of a type adapted to adhere to itself upon the application of pressure alone, whereby upon the folding of said sections into superimposed relation the folded strip portions adhere in folded relation, the strip portions at the sides of said front section having cut-out means adapted to expose an area of the coating of the strip portions at the sides of said back section to engagement of the coating of the strip portions at the sides of said flap portion when said flap portion is folded, and said front section terminating, when folded, in underlying relation to said folded flap portion.

5. A combined letter sheet and envelope comprising a sheet of material of rectangular form having a plurality of sections foldable along predetermined lines of folding transversely of the sheet into superimposed relation, one of said sections constituting a back section and another constituting a front section, a closing flap forming an extension of said back section and also foldable along a predetermined line of folding transversely of the sheet into superimposed relation with said back section, separable marginal strip portions extending along the parallel longitudinal sides of said sections and said closing flap, each coated at one side with an adhesive of a type adapted to adhere to itself upon the application of pressure alone, whereby upon the folding of said sections into superimposed relation the folded strip portions adhere in folded relation, the strip portions at the sides of said front section terminating, when folded, in spaced relation to the extremities of the strip portions at the sides of said closing flap whereby areas of the coatings of the strip portions at the sides of said back section are exposed to engagement of the coatings of the strip portions at the sides of said flap portion when said flap portion is folded.

6. A combined letter sheet and envelope comprising a sheet of material of rectangular form having a plurality of sections foldable along predetermined lines of folding transversely of the sheet into superimposed relation, one of said sections constituting a back section and another constituting a front section, a closing flap forming an extension of said back section and also foldable along a predetermined line of folding transversely of the sheet into superimposed relation with said back section,

separable marginal strip portions extending along the parallel longiinto superimposed relation,

tudinal sides of said sections and said closing flap, each coated at one side with an adhesive of a type adapted to adhere to itself upon the application of pressure alone, whereby upon the folding of said sections into superimposed relation the folded strip portions adhere in folded relation, the strip portions at the sides of said front section terminating, when folded, in spaced relation to the extremities of the strip portions at the sides of said closing flap whereby areas of the coatings of the strip portions at the sides of said back section are exposed to engagement of the coatings of the strip portions at the sides of said flap portion when said flap portion is folded, and said front section terminating, when folded, in underlying relation to said folded flap portion.

'7. A combined letter sheet and envelope comprising a sheet of material of rectangular form having a plurality of sections foldable transversely of the sheet into superimposed relation, one of said sections constituting a back section, another constituting a front section, and another constituting an extension of said front section, a closing flap forming an extension of said back section and also foldable transversely of the sheet into superimposed relation with said back section, separable marginal strip portions extending along the sides of said front and back sections and said closing flap, each coated at one side with an adhesive of a type adapted to adhere to itself upon the application of pressure above, whereby upon the folding of said sections into superimposed relation the folded strip portions adhere in folded relation, the strip portions at the sides of said front section having cut-out means adapted to expose areas of the coatings of the strip portions at the sides of said back section to engagement of the coatings of the strip portions at the sides of said flap portion when said flap portion is folded.

8. A combined letter sheet and envelope comprising a sheet of material of rectangular form having a plurality of sections foldable along predetermined lines of folding transversely of the sheet into superimposed relation, one of said sections constituting a back section and another constituting a front section, a closing flap forming an extension of said back section and also foldable along a predetermined line of folding transversely of the sheet into superimposed relation with said back section, a pair of separable marginal strip portions extending along the parallel longitudinal sides of said sections and said closing flap, the strip portions at the sides of said front section having cut-out means adapted to expose areas of the strip portions at the sides of said back portion to engagement of the strip portions at the sides of said flap portion when said flap portion is folded, whereby said flap may be sealed to said back section by a sealing substance between them.

MAX VOGEL. 

